December 2014

12/31/2014

Do you have a revocable living trust? Are you thinking about creating (or updating one) in the New Year? Either way it is important to transfer your assets into that trust, including any real estate that you own.

Estate planning attorneys who draft trusts for their clients always advise those clients to transfer assets into the trusts. This is important because if the assets are not transferred into the trust, then the terms of the trust may not cover how those assets are later used and distributed.

The big issue? While your title insurance might cover your ownership of the property, it will not necessarily continue to provide coverage after the property is transferred.

If there are later legal disputes concerning the property, then you could be in trouble. For this reason, it is extremely important that you review any title insurance policies before transferring real estate into a trust.

Accordingly, it may be prudent to contact the insurance provider and get coverage for your trust.

This issue is easily avoidable, of course. Just make sure that you and your attorney review any title insurance before transferring property to a trust or other legal entity.

12/30/2014

No one really wants to do it. I mean, it makes one face the realities of one’s own mortality. For many people writing a will can be a daunting task.

Along with avoiding eye contact with death, it can be difficult to decide what to do with your assets after you pass away. However, once things are broken down, writing a will does not have to be too difficult.

A will is final say in what happens to your property. If your will is properly drafted, then whatever you say about the disposition of your assets will be given legal effect.

However, if your will is not properly drafted, then your wishes might go unheeded. You do not get any mulligans either.

The key, of course, is drafting your will properly, which for many people is a difficult task.

Understand the Process - You need to understand the basic laws in your state that determine whether your will is valid. This requires knowledge of how many people need to witness you sign the will and whether signatures need to be notarized.

Work with a Lawyer - Once you understand the process, you might think it is easy to write a will on your own. However, it is unlikely that you know the correct legal language that needs to be used. For this reason, you should hire a lawyer who does.

Choose Executors and Witnesses Carefully - You need to make sure that you have trustworthy and reliable people to execute your wishes.

Include the Small Stuff - Even if you think something is too small to put in a will, include it anyway.

Tell Someone Where Your Will Is - If no one can find your will after you pass away, it will not be heeded.

When you are ready to draft your will, perhaps as one of your resolutions for the New Year, be sure to engage the services of an experienced estate planning attorney. This is not a DIY project.

12/29/2014

A fool and his money will go separate ways. So it is with many an inheritance. People often fear that leaving large sums of money to their relatives will result in those relatives blowing the money on things they do not need.

A recent case in the United Kingdom demonstrates that this is not an unfounded fear.

Euan MacAndrew, a 24-year-old, was left an inheritance by his grandfather that amounted to approximately one-hundred thousand pounds. MacAndrew then proceeded to do what was probably the last thing his grandfather would have wanted him to do with that inheritance. MacAndrew wasted it all on cars, clothes and drugs.

People who do not have a lot of wealth of their own often waste it when they come into it. When they have not earned the wealth for themselves, they do not always understand the true value of it and how difficult wealth can be to maintain.

The good news is that this is something that can be prevented. You do not have to give an inheritance to a relative as a lump sum of cash. You can use trusts or other legal instruments to distribute money over time or on an as needed basis.

If you think your relatives might waste their inheritances on wine (or cocaine), women and song, then talk to an experienced estate planning attorney about how you can best prevent that from happening in your family.

12/26/2014

John Sheridan, Cooper Health System's CEO, and his wife were declared dead Sept. 28 after they were found unresponsive in their master bedroom in Montgomery Township's Skillman section. No will for the Sheridans has been located. The family has not filed a detailed list of assets such as real estate, cash, and stocks and bonds.

Suspicion surrounding the recent passing of a wealthy New Jersey couple is only getting worse with the latest developments regarding their estate.

On September 28, 2014, John P. Sheridan and Joyce Sheridan were pulled out of their New Jersey home. Both had severe stab wounds. Mr. Sheridan was pronounced dead at the scene while Mrs. Sheridan died shortly thereafter in the hospital. Mrs. Sheridan's cause of death is officially listed as a homicide. However, Mr. Sheridan's death is listed as pending investigation. Authorities still are not sure what happened that night.

The estate is believe to be valued at around $2 million. Curiously, no will or other estate planning documents have been found.

This case is worth monitoring not only to discover what transpired on the night the Sheridans passed away, but also to see if any will is ever found. It would be unusual for such wealthy people to have no estate plan at all, but it is not unheard of.

If no estate plan is found, then the laws of intestate succession will determine how the estate is distributed.

12/25/2014

A New York City landlord told his siblings, on his deathbed, that he hid $4.5m worth of silver bullion and gold krugerrands – but no one knew where. The confession sent a family into years of litigation and a costly treasure hunt, one still unresolved today.

What would you do your dying family member claimed to have hidden treasures worth millions?

Edward Giaimo Jr. was a wealthy New York lawyer and landlord. In 2007, while on his deathbed he confessed to his family that he had hidden gold and silver worth $4.5 million.

Despite the fact that the treasure has not been found, the family continues to fight over it in court and they are also fighting over another $10 million that was found in Giaimo's home, which may have been skimmed from subsidized rents.

This is an interesting case for estate administration.

It is difficult to distribute assets that may not even exist. Although Giaimo's brother has stated that he believes the treasure is buried on the property or hidden in an unknown warehouse, it has not been found and might not be. The best that a court might be able to do is determine who gets the fortune if it is ever found.

While the original article does not provide specific details about the family's feud, such disagreements are not uncommon when there is great wealth involved, especially when there is mystery surrounding the wealth.

12/24/2014

Search for the late actor and comedian Robin Williams on Facebook and you'll quickly come to an invitation to "connect" to him. That could be difficult, to say the least. The much-beloved Academy Award winner departed this earthly realm four months ago. His page is now set up to receive tributes from his considerable fan base.Could someone do the same for you if you suddenly died? Apparently not. Read on ...

Wait, you can still connect with Robin Williams on Facebook? As strange as it seems since Williams passed away several months ago, you can still "like" his Facebook page according to The Ledgerin an article titled "Access Bill: Clarify Online Life After Death."

It appears that someone else had access to Williams' account when he passed away and has left the page open for fans to express sympathy for Williams' family and pay tribute to Williams himself.

Most people, however, do not share their Facebook passwords with other people.

When they pass away, their families have a difficult time accessing the accounts.

Under current privacy laws and Facebook policies, no one can access the account without prior approval of the account holder. The obvious problem is that if the account holder has passed away, approval to access the account cannot be given.

Many states are attempting to change laws to allow access to digital accounts after the owner has passed away. However, changing laws is often a slow process.

Until the laws in your state do change, it is important to plan for what will happen to your Facebook page and other digital accounts after you pass away.

12/23/2014

When Apple and Facebook made news recently for paying the expenses of their female employees to freeze their eggs, chances are you didn’t think it would have any effect on your estate plan. But if you have a daughter or a granddaughter, you may be mistaken.

Modern medicine is definitely a game-changer in the estate planning world. How so, you ask?

Apple and Facebook recently decided to offer a new benefit to female employees. The companies will pay to have the eggs of their female employees frozen.

The intent of the companies was undoubtedly to retain female employees who might otherwise have left to start families before it was too late. However, as Forbespoints out in an article titled "How Freezing Eggs Can Affect Your Estate Plan," this could have an impact on estate planning if other companies begin to follow suit.

The original article suggests that your daughter could have her eggs frozen, pass away in an accident and leave the eggs to her husband. If the husband later decides to use a surrogate with those eggs, then the child could be considered your descendent. That means you need to decide whether or not you want to leave a portion of your estate to such a child.

It is obviously not a simple question to answer.

This is just one more way that modern technology is impacting estate planning. In this day and age, you need to make sure that your estate plan is up to date with the latest practices and technology so there are not unwanted surprises for your family later on.

12/22/2014

No one — not Florida investigators, court officials, the Wisconsin Department of Corrections or the FBI — ever notified the surviving relatives of Cydzik's victim in the Brookfield fatal robbery. Only this year — by chance and Facebook postings — did they finally discover whatever became of Cydzik. Now, they're looking for some belated closure in a Florida court.

Fugitive Thaddeus "Ted" Cydzik lived a double life for nearly forty years before taking his own life, but his estate may live on in court.

Forty years ago Gerald Wall was murdered in a Wisconsin bar by Ted Cydzik. At the time, Cydzik was an uneducated 19-year-old.

However, Cydzik was a model prisoner and became the first Wisconsin prisoner to receive a Bachelor's degree under a then new program. Then, Cydzik escaped and authorities were unable to locate him.

Cydzik apparently assumed a new identity and started a technology company. He got married without anyone every figuring out that he was a fugitive. However, his wife became suspicious that he was not who he said he was and filed for divorce.

Cydzik then committed suicide.

When authorities finally pieced together who Cydzik was they did not tell the victim's family. The family only learned about it a few years later when a friend read a story online.

Cydzik's estate has been closed. However, Wall's family is seeking to have it reopened on the grounds that not all of the potential creditors were informed of Cydzik's death.

This is an interesting case. Under ordinary circumstances an estate is not reopened once it has been closed. But, if all creditors are not properly informed of the estate administration an estate can be reopened.

12/19/2014

Legion of Christ is a Catholic holy order whose founder was found to have molested seminarians and fathered children. A wealthy Rhode Island woman left her entire $60 million estate to the order. Now, the Rhode Island Supreme Court will decide if that woman's niece can sue the order.

While it is not unusual for people to leave a portion of their estates to religious groups they support, it is unusual for them to leave their entire estate to a religious group, especially one that has been disgraced with a scandal.

The issue before the court is whether the woman's niece has standing to sue the Catholic order.

A lower court ruled that she did not, even though it found that the order might have unduly influenced the wealthy woman.

So, what exactly is “standing” anyway?

Standing is an important issue in all areas of law, including in estate law. If someone does not have standing, he or she cannot sue.

The original article does not state why the lower court ruled that the niece did not have standing. Most likely, the court either felt she would not have inherited the wealth but not for the holy order's undue influence.

If you are thinking of suing over an estate, it is important to speak to an experienced estate planning attorney.

Contrary to law firms that advertise on late night television, not everyone has the right to sue over everything.